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 High taxes, complex procedures, bureaucratic hurdles, unreasonable mark-ups by hotels, dichotomy where the constitution gives the states jurisdiction on alcohol marketing to make them encourage prohibition but which instead chose the alcohol industry as a cash cow to increase taxes at will, FSSAI – a scourge for the importers and the reason for the fall in consumption of imported wines from Italy in 2014-15, are a few of the negatives that could not be ignored-neither could the fact that the 28 States and 7 Union Territories have become harsh and arbitrary in making the policies which act more as trade barriers.
But on the positive side was the huge population of over 1.25 billion with a big number drinking hard liquor but gradually imbibing wine, the growing middle class and the current young age of the population expected to increase the number of wine drinkers during the next 15 years, making the wine market lucrative for imports and the domestic market in future. But he warned that although Italian wines were getting more popular, regions like Tuscany, Piedmont and Veneto were Brands created over years because of their efforts. It was thus important that Puglia, the region which leads in quantity in wine, olive oil and many other agricultural produce, worked towards creating Brand Puglia, he said. This would be a 3-5 year process and needed the government and EU support to succeed. Smaller producers have no possibility to cope with the procedures and the requirement of the market.
As it happened, the Workshop turned out to be an Italian-language event and Arora was expected to make his presentation in Italian. Not to be fazed by the daunting task, he chose to speak in broken Italian, aided by Franco Oliva, an international consultant and an olive oil specialist who has been to India many times and knows the Indian market. Franco opened the workshop with a brief introduction on the state of the international wine market as well.
Arora is in Puglia visiting several Masserie (centuries-old farmhouses with castle-like solid boundaries) which have become a new wheel of tourism by being refurbished into modern hospitality homes acting as starred hotels and destinations for international weddings and honeymooner’s delight. Masseria Potenti near Manduria is a 400-year old deluxe property run by a Milan-based lawyer, Maria Grazia. It already handles about 20 big international weddings a year since it opened a few years ago. It has a kitchen that can cater to 300-500 people, besides having 12 beautiful rooms. She is so passionate that she gave up her lucrative profession to look after the project and shuttles between Milan and Manduria to oversee the operations.
Le Fabriche is another Masseria that is a 4-star hotel with 18 rooms and is a great honeymoon destination within the vineyards and olive groves. Alessia Perrucci also makes wine from 13 hA vines. The De Padova family has 2 deluxe Masserie, Bosco and Strazzati which is a 500 year-old monastery converted into a property that was chosen as one of the seven Heavenly European Inns where the return of the experience exceeded the financial investment and the place conveyed the local culture. It also has an excellent restaurant with a wide range of antipasti and facilities like a big swimming pool and rooms in various sizes, styles.
These Masserie need to be promoted as wedding destinations, Arora said. ‘Wedding Fest-Honeymoon Nest’ should in essence describe these destinations. Many of these destinations are producing excellent quality of olive oil and other agricultural produce also, giving the guests a unique oeno-gastronomical experience. The region must make efforts to form an integrated policy that promotes Pugliesi wines, agriculture produce and tourism including weddings and possibly attract more vegetarian tourists because of the enormous availability of fresh vegetables, fruits and the traditional culture of centuries behind them.
Rosa Fiore, Head of the Agri-food policy for Regione Puglia came from Bari, the capital of the region, to attend the workshop organised jointly by the two organisations PugliaCheVai and Trade for Excellence. She thanked Arora and appreciated the suggestions. She said that the points made by him will be taken into account while forming the new strategy to participate in the promotion of Puglia and its agro-produce by sharing of EU funds. She emphasised that the Region is giving importance to explore markets of the BRICS countries and India was an important  destination. She also agreed that knowing the complexity of the market, they would spread their efforts over a span of years and that the government of the region wanted and requested the producers to come together and stick together to promote their products optimising the resources, so that Brand Puglia was promoted as a whole.
Joint organisers of the Workshop, Roberto Lamotti of PugliaCheVai and Roberto Caló of Trade for Excellence announced a programme of events to organise and support the producers to align with the strategy announced by Ms Fiore.
Puglia is a great destination for tourism, including weddings. It has excellent olive oil that constitutes over 30% of total production in Italy whereas Tuscany has a mere 4%, says Franco Oliva, who is the former Deputy Director of International Olive Oil Council based in Madrid. The agricultural produce, much of it organic, can find a market in India. It has 900 kms long beaches on the coastlines of the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, defining the heel of the well-known Italian Peninsula boot that could be a magnet attracting the beach lovers.
Arora ended his presentation by saying that Puglia é il Paradiso per gli Indiani vegetariani (Puglia is heaven for the Indian vegetarians) and hoped it would be able to exploit its potential in the sub-continent.
Subhash Arora |